Contact centers, which typically are associated with human agents, are used to provide customer service and support. The agents associated with a contact center can be assigned to handle contacts that have been placed in one or more queues established by the contact center. In general, different agents are assigned to handle contacts from different queues based on the attributes or requirements of the queues, and the attributes or capabilities of the individual agents. Usually, agents associated with a contact center are capable of handling contacts from different queues. However, agents are usually assigned to handle contacts from queues to which the individual agents are best matched. Individual queues associated with the contact center can experience unacceptably long wait times, or can otherwise enter an in trouble status, when an unusually large number of contacts are placed in a queue, where an inadequate number of agents are assigned to handle contacts from the queue, or for other reasons. Therefore, it is sometimes necessary or desirable to alter agent assignments.
In order to maintain service requirements, for example to avoid wait times that are too long, systems have been developed to reallocate agents automatically. Automatic systems typically implement algorithms that enable or disable queue assignments. Alternatively or in addition, contact centers can be controlled manually by a supervisor or administrator. For example, an administrator can change the queue assignments for individual agents or sets of agents. In addition to changing the control parameters associated with the operation of automatic call distribution systems, supervisors can initiate communications to agents on an individual basis, to request that the agent assist with handling contacts from an in trouble queue. However, previous systems do not allow a supervisor to initiate a broadcast request for agents to accept modified duties that can be implemented automatically upon an affirmative response from a receiving agent. Previous systems also do not provide notification to agents that the agents' queue allocations have changed. Moreover, previous systems do not provide for the automatic expiration of an administered change or a request to modify duties when the need has been met, or under other circumstances.